


A Dream You Never Had

by Alliliswips (ilien)



Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Amnesia, Dubious Consent Due To Amnesia, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, False Memories, M/M, Memory Magic, Multi, Pining, WIP that might never be completed, mentions of child's death, that doesn't really happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:07:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27134999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilien/pseuds/Alliliswips
Summary: Something is wrong with Juliette. The rescue attempt doesn't quite go as expected.
Relationships: Adalind Schade & Juliette Silverton, Nick Burkhardt/Juliette Silverton, Nick Burkhardt/Sean Renard, Nick Burkhardt/Sean Renard/Juliette Silverton
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Trobadora](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trobadora/gifts).



> I'm posting this fic as part of my personal "post all the WIPs" campaign. I've been working on this story on and off (mostly off, recently), for quite a while, and there are still some parts missing in the middle. I have the ending done, though, and a good part of the happy sequel, so even if I fail to complete it, whoever reads this will still have some sort of closure.
> 
> I started writing this fic during the mid-season 4 Easter hiatus. It diverges from canon around that point: Juliette and Nick just broke up and not exactly the way they did in the show; Kelly Junior does not exist; Nick’s mother and Henrietta are alive and well, Diana is still in Kelly's care.
> 
> I'm gifting this fic to the one person who unknowingly expressed interest in it Years and Years ago. Without you I'd never have posted it, or any of my other WIPs. 
> 
> See end notes for details on ships and tags.

It was good to know that Adalind showing up at her front door no longer scared or angered Juliette. It amused her (the nerve of that woman!) and made her curious: what is it this time? It wasn’t like Adalind had a chance in a fight against her, and they both knew that, by now. Juliette smiled one of her nastiest smiles (at least, she hoped it looked nasty) and opened the door.

“We’ve been best friends for years, Juliette, and only got drunk together twice. What, were the first two times that traumatic?” Adalind demanded. Best friends? Since when?

Ah. Right. Probably two night shifts in a row were too much.

“As a matter of fact,” Juliette answered, letting her in, “the first time we were fourteen, never been drunk before. Your mother was furious, and she made us drink this potion…“ She shivered at the memory of the evil potion from hell Adalind’s mother made them drink to sober them up.

Adalind nodded. “And the second time we were eighteen, both had a crush on the same guy, and there was a lot of bad alcohol involved.”

“At least we didn’t go to your mother for help that time. I think the hangover was still better than the potion.”

They both laughed.

“Anyway,” Adalind said. “I think we’re well overdue for another escapade. We’ve been way too good way too long. Besides, it would take our minds off... everything that’s been happening.” Her smile vanished. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to forget about my daughter’s death, but maybe, just maybe... it’ll hurt a little less?”

That was the first time Adalind even mentioned Diana since the funeral, and Juliette thought it was a good sign.

“Okay then,” she decided. “Bring it on.”

***

“Detective Burkhardt, my office,” Captain Renard said, passing Nick’s desk. He didn’t sound angry or upset, but then again, he never did. This time, however, Nick knew his boss had every reason to be angry.

Nick looked at Hank for some support, but all he got was, “Don’t look at me, man, you had it coming!” So much for having his back. Nick sighed and went to face his fate.

The Captain was standing by the window, his back to Nick.

“Close the door, detective,” Renard said as Nick entered his office. “Take a seat.” This time he did sound... something. Not as calm and composed as he’d usually been. This was bad.

“Sir,” Nick started, but Renard interrupted him.

“I said ‘sit’, detective,” he repeated, turning around.

Nick pulled a chair and sat. It had been a direct order, after all. Renard walked around his table and closed the blinds, and then leaned on the desk in front of Nick.

“What the hell were you thinking?” He asked.

“I’m sorry. I lost my temper. I shouldn’t have attacked him.”

“That’s right, you shouldn’t have.”

“I’m sorry,” Nick said again, carefully exploring the dried mud on his left boot. “If the suspect is pressing charges—“

“I’m not speaking about charges, Nick.”

Nick looked up.

“He’s a Phansigar who was armed with a .45, and you weren’t even wearing a vest. Reinforcements were two minutes away, what on Earth made you go there alone?”

“The hostage—“

“Had been there for four hours, unharmed; he’d survive another two minutes without your heroic rescue.”

“I couldn’t know that at the time.”

“That’s not an excuse! You knew who and what the suspect was, you knew he was armed, you knew help was on the way. He fired three shots at you; it was pure luck that he missed.”

“The important part is that he missed, and I didn’t.”

“The important part is that you have a death wish!” Now the Captain was visibly angry. “You and I both know that your luck will run out sooner or later! You’re losing your focus, you’re making mistakes, you’re running head first into danger when it can be avoided! Do I have to remind you that Adalind and my cousin are still in town, and still looking for a way to get to Diana through any of us? I don’t want my next report to be on your death!”

“I promise I’ll be more careful,” Nick said. Renard barely had to raise his voice to have Nick shiver. Being told off by the Captain made Nick feel like a schoolboy at the principal’s office. That was much more unpleasant than facing a Phansigar armed with an S&W.

“You promised to be more careful the last two times we had this talk. I’m not buying it anymore. Take the rest of the week off, Detective. Get some sleep. Have some rest.”

“We still haven’t closed this case. The brother—”

“I’m sure Hank can handle it. We need you at your best, Nick, we can’t afford losing you to something this stupid.”

Nick nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“I’m not suspending you, I’m giving you paid leave; next time you pull a stunt like that, you won’t get off that easy.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Go. Have Hank give you a ride. And call Juliette, she’s worried.”

It was probably not a good time to call the captain out on his involvement with Nick’s ex-girlfriend. Nick was glad Renard was looking out for her, he really was; he also knew the two of them weren’t having an affair, and even if they had been, it would have been none of his business. Yet, this casual mention of Juliette made him suddenly so angry that he actually slammed the door on his way out.

If he were completely honest with himself, he’d been pretty annoyed with Renard, lately. It was mostly jealousy, of course: Renard’s recently developed friendship with Juliette was much more than Nick had with her right now. But jealousy wasn’t all it was, and Nick definitely didn’t want to explore all the reasons for his annoyance with his commanding officer.

He didn’t ask Hank for a ride; instead, he just grabbed his jacket and left without another word. He could use a walk.

When he dialed Juliette, she, of course, didn’t pick up.

***

It was good – letting go, for a change. Juliette no longer felt like he had to control herself all the time at the threat of harming people, but still, mindless drinking and dancing was good for her; she couldn’t remember when she’d last done anything like that, with or without Adalind.

It looked like it did some good for Adalind, too. Juliette was glad to see her flirt with some stranger and smile at him; it had been a while since she’d last seen Adalind smile.

***

Nick did as the Captain told him. He forced himself to eat a sandwich, drank a bottle of beer, watched a movie, and went to bed early. He even dosed off for a couple of hours, and counted it as a win: he hadn’t been able to sleep much alone lately.

In fact, he hadn’t exactly slept well in the last weeks he’d spent with Juliette, either. As her nightmares were getting worse, neither of them managed a good night’s sleep. It took Nick some time to realize Juliette’s nightmares featured him killing her; he found it when she woged as he tried to wake her up; after that he knew they weren’t going to make it through unchanged. When it got so bad that she could no longer sleep with him around, he moved to the spare room. He wished she didn’t look so relieved when weeks later she was still having nightmares, and he offered to move out. He wished he hadn’t felt any relief, either.

The nights, though, weren’t the hardest part of single life. The hardest part was being alone in his apartment. Everything there reminded him that this wasn’t really his home; everything belonged to him and him alone, and that was frustrating. He’d leave the place in the morning and come back at night to see it right how he’d left it: no weird smells of animals and meds Juliette carried on her from work, no empty coffee cups on the counter, no bowls of quinoa in the fridge; even the towels were right where he’d left them on the bathroom floor, and nobody complained about it. He thought it’d get better eventually, but days turned into weeks, and he still couldn’t get used to it.

***

Juliette woke up to a terrible headache. Something wasn’t right. She’d been drinking last night with... with—Adalind? Was she supposed to be drinking with Adalind? Adalind almost killed her, almost destroyed her life, raped Nick—who’s Nick? Why did she feel this Nick was more important than her best friend—wait. Adalind had never been a friend. What the hell was in that drink? Why on Earth had she agreed to drink with Adalind, in the first place?

Something was very wrong. Juliette grabbed her phone. With shaking fingers, she dialed Rosalie.

***

Renard had been right about one thing: Nick probably needed this leave – maybe not to get some rest and try to fix what was wrong with him (there was nothing wrong with him, save for his trouble sleeping) – but at least, to do something about the evolving chaos in his apartment. He’d been spending all his time at the precinct lately, coming home only to change and try to sleep. As a result, the apartment didn’t look very lived in. Piles of laundry were gathering up in his bedroom, and piles of dirty dishes in his sink; he didn’t remember when he’d last change his sheets or dusted the shelves. At least, he didn’t have any pets or plants; none of those would have survived these past few weeks.

He changed the sheets, did the laundry, washed the dishes and cleaned up his place a little. Even as tiny as it was, the cleaning still took all of Nick’s morning and a good part of the afternoon.

He’d almost finished when the doorbell rang.

Something was definitely wrong, because there’s no way Wu, Hank and Renard would come by for a social call. Part of him still rejoiced that he’d just cleaned up; letting his Captain see the mess he’d lived in probably wasn’t a good idea.

***

“So, I know the plane doesn’t leave until five, but I thought I’d stop by and help you pack,” Adalind said with a bright smile. She brought two cups of the best coffee in town, bless her.

“I needed this so much, you have no idea,” Juliette said as she took a sip.

“The coffee, or the help packing?”

“Actually, both,” she admitted. “I haven’t even begun packing yet.” He wasn’t entirely sure what she was supposed to be packing for, but well, that’s why she needed coffee.

“Hah, I knew it! Finish your coffee, c’mon, let’s get this done, Prague awaits!”

Juliette smiled. She’d never been to Prague, and was looking forward to spending a week there with Adalind. It’d take their minds off of stuff.

Just as she was finishing her coffee, the doorbell rang. 

Adalind looked out of the window. “Huh, do you know that guy? I’m pretty sure you don’t.”

Juliette handed the empty cup to Adalind and went to open the door. There was a weird guy on the porch.

“Hey,” the guy said, “Rosalee told me you called. I came as soon as I could. Are you okay?”

“Who are you?” Juliette asked.

“What do you mean who I am? Juliette, what happened?”

“Nothing happened to me, you’re the one who came here. How do you know my name?”

For a second, he looked stunned. Then he stared right at her and said, slowly, “You mean to say, you don’t know who I am?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” This was getting creepy. “I’ve never seen you before in my life,” she assured the guy. “Could you please go harass someone else? I’ve got stuff to do.”

“Juliette, listen to me. I think you’re in trouble. You know me. You’ve known me for years. Even when you forgot Nick because of Adalind’s curse, you still remembered me! What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t know a Nick, and I know for certain Adalind never cursed me. Please go away.”

“Juliette, please! Let me help you!” This man was obviously insane.

“Please, get off my property,” Juliette told him, “or I’m calling the police.”

That almost worked. The strange man gave her another odd look and then turned around and walked away. He didn’t go far, however: he stopped at the pavement, glanced at her over his shoulder, and took out his phone.

Juliette had a bad feeling about him. She reached out for her own phone and called Renard; it was definitely one of those cases when he’d want her to call him, not 911.

“Did he go away?” Adalind shouted from the kitchen when Juliette hung up.

“He’s outside, looking at our windows,” Juliette answered. “I called Sean. He said he’ll send someone.”

“You called – whom?” Adalind entered the living room and gave Juliette a puzzled look.

“Captain Renard.”

“But Juliette, you don’t know anyone in Portland PD. You’ve never met the Captain.”

Of course. Did Juliette just say that she’d met him? Whom?

“I called 911. They’ll be here in a minute. They’ll deal with that weird man.”

Adalind’s smile was a little unsettling. No, it really wasn’t.


	2. Chapter 2

“We have bad news for you,” Renard said as Nick invited them in.

And just like that, Nick knew. From their expressions, from the way they were avoiding his eyes, he just knew, and his heart stopped.

“Juliette?” He asked.

He was probably transparent in his panic, because the first thing out of Renard’s mouth was, “She’s alive.”

“What happened?” Nick asked. Alive was a huge relief. Everything else could be dealt with.

“We’re not sure,” said Wu.

“Several hours ago I got a call from her,” Renard explained. “She told me someone had come into her house and was harassing her, acting like they were old friends and refusing to leave. I asked Hank and Wu here to check up on her.”

“Yeah,” Hank continued. “Turned out, that ‘someone’ was Monroe. Juliette insisted she’d never met him.”

“Moreover, she swore she’d never met us, either. She said she didn’t know anyone from the police department, and told us she’d called 911, not Captain’s personal number.”

“Juliette said she’d never met any of you?”

“She denied knowing Captain, and had no idea who we were. When we mentioned you, she said she didn’t know a Nick.”

“That’s—“

“Wait, it gets better,” Hank said.

“I’m not sure ‘better’ is the word I’d use,” Renard commented. “After they told me what happened, I put surveillance on her house. Unofficially, just to be on the safe side. An hour later they reported that she’d left in a taxi, with a packed suitcase. With a blond woman.”

“Adalind.”

“Got it in one.”

“Why didn’t you call me right away?”

“Check your phone.”

Nick did. Three unanswered calls from Monroe, four from Hank and Wu each, and a text from Renard, saying, “We need you at the precinct.” He hadn’t heard the damn thing ring.

“What did she do to her? Where did they go?”

“We can’t answer the first question yet,” Wu stepped in, “but I think we have an answer to the second one. Here,” he said, opening his laptop. “According to our data, last night Adalind booked two plane tickets to Europe.”

Nick glanced at the screen. “Prague? Why would Adalind take her to Prague?”

“Wish we’d known,” Hank said.

“Well, we can’t let her do that! We need to stop them right now!”

“On what basis, Nick?” Renard asked. “I’m sorry, but to detain someone at the airport, I need to give airport security a solid reason. They’re both adults, their documents are perfectly fine, neither of them is under investigation or reported missing – we can’t just barge in there and tell everyone we suspect she’s being brainwashed.”

“So, what? We’re just letting Adalind take her to Europe and do whatever she wants to do to her there?”

“We’ll think of something.”

“And in the meantime, we let Adalind kidnap Juliette and do God knows what to her!?”

“Nick, I care about Juliette, too,” Renard said. “We’ll work this out.”

“You do that. I’m going after her.”

“Nick! It’s Europe, you don’t have the authority there!” Griffin said.

“This might be a trap!” Wu suggested at the same time.

“I don’t care if it’s a trap, I don’t care I’m not a cop there, it’s Juliette! She’s in danger; I can’t just sit on my hands and wait till we come up with a better plan.”

“That’s exactly what you have to do!” Hank argued, and Wu added, “You’re too close to this, we should send someone else!”

Renard raised his hand, and both of them shut up.

“As a matter of fact, following them might be the only option we have.”

“Sir?”

“I could question my cousin, but I’m pretty sure that won’t give us anything: if it was his plan, he’s not likely to talk, and if it’s Adalind’s own bright idea, he might not know anything. In the meantime, the closer we are to Juliette, the higher are our chances of helping her.”

“We?” Nick didn’t like the sound of that at all.

“I’m not letting you go there alone.”

“I could go with Hank.”

“As far as we know, Juliette does not appear lost or disoriented; that means she’s not suffering from short-term or complete memory loss. Whatever’s going on with her, it’s more complicated than simple amnesia of any kind. That means, although she insists she doesn’t remember any of us, she will now probably recognize Hank and Wu as the officers who were checking on her.

“She’ll also recognize Monroe,” he continued as Nick opened his mouth to talk, “as the guy who supposedly harassed her. If Juliette is really under a memory-altering spell, it would be better if the person who goes with you could approach Juliette without being recognized.”

He was right. Nick briefly considered asking Rosalee, but making her leave the shop just because Nick has issues with his captain would be just ridiculous.

“Okay,” he said at last. “We’ll be going together. But I’m going as a Grimm, not a police detective.”

“Fair enough.”

“You don’t get to give me orders once we’re out of Portland.”

“Understood.” For some reason, Renard looked amused. “Do I get to give you orders now?”

“Why, do you have any?” Nick wasn’t sure why he was smiling.

“When did you last eat?” Renard asked, instead of answering.

Nick wasn’t sure. Last night? He’d definitely eaten something lately. Or, yesterday, at least. He hadn’t really been in the mood for breakfast that morning.

His face must have shown all of it, because Renard frowned and said, “I’ll arrange for a private jet, it’s safer and faster that way. We’re leaving once as we’re sure Juliette and Adalind’s plane took off and they were really on it, which won’t happen until half past five. I need you to eat something before we leave. I don’t want you fainting at the airport. Can you do that?”

“Yes, sir.” Nick doubted he’d be able to eat anything, but saw no point in arguing.

“Good. Wu, try to find out if they booked a hotel, and if they did – which one. Hank, go back to the precinct. Oh, and Nick!”

“Sir?”

“You might want to call Theresa. Sergeant Wu is right; it might be a trap, or a way of luring you, or us both, out of Portland. Someone should keep an eye on things here.”

“That might be a good idea,” Nick agreed.

***

“I still don’t like making you pay for my ticket,” Juliette said as they took their business class seats.

“You’re not ‘making’ me do anything,” Adalind protested. “There’s no way I’m spending fifteen hours in economy class. Have you seen the queues to the bathroom?”

“I could—“

“No. The whole point of this trip is to spend some time together. Besides, it’s not like I had better use for this money; I’ve been earning more than I could spend, lately.”

Juliette sighed. She doubted that was entirely true; Adalind had always been very good at spending money, but sometimes arguing with her was utterly pointless; if she had made up her mind to pay for Juliette’s flight, there was no way of talking her out of it.

“We’re saving a lot on the hotel, anyway. Everything was booked, or I sure as hell wouldn’t have picked this crappy 4-star.”

If Juliette hadn’t been in such a good mood, she probably would have pointed out that calling a 4-star hotel in the center of Prague ‘crappy’ made Adalind sound like a spoiled brat. It wouldn’t have been the worst she’d called her best friend over the years; they’d been known to say a lot of terrible things to each other, and then make up, anyway. That was probably what made their friendship so strong – knowing that no matter how bad things got between them, they’d still find a way to be friends again.

Now, though, she wasn’t in a mood for another shouting match, so she just smiled and nodded.

***

Nick, as advised, called Trubel, and got her assurance that she’d keep the city safe while he’s away. Just to be on the safe side, he also sent a short note to his mother: if it was some part of Adalind’s elaborate plan to get to Diana, his mother needed to be aware of what was going on.

After that, he packed a suitcase and actually ordered a pizza. He wasn’t hungry, not even a little, but, well – he didn’t want to explain to the Captain why he hadn’t even tried to have a snack.

He managed to eat a slice, and down it with a cup of coffee. Pizza didn’t go well with coffee, but it’s not like it mattered: he needed caffeine much more than food.

***

“They booked a room in a hotel in the Old Town. I made a reservation in a hotel down the street,” Renard said as they boarded the plane. Under any other circumstances, Nick would have been stunned with all the luxury of the private jet. Right now, he didn’t much care, as long as it got them to Europe as soon as possible.

“Why not the same hotel?” He asked, buckling up.

“It’s high season, everything is booked. We were lucky to find anything at all, let alone a place just a block away.”

Nick nodded. “Thank you,” he said, after a pause. “I know this must cost a fortune.” He gestured around him.

“Nick, please. Juliette is my friend, too; and the mess with Adalind is my responsibility. I see no reason not to use the resources at my disposal.”

Nick nodded.

“So, do you have any idea what’s going on?” Nick asked once they settled in the luxurious seats that looked more like a couch then anything you’d expect to see on a plane, and the jet took off. 

“There’s quite a number of various spells that could cause something like this. There are at least six or eight that fit what we’ve seen so far, but unfortunately, they are too different; there’s no common approach. We’re going to need to get closer to Juliette, talk to her, learn as much as we can about her condition.”

“What’s your best guess?”

“Well... As far as we can tell, no third person was involved, so we can rule out a Wesen other than Hexenbiest. Adalind didn’t seem to be in close proximity all the time, so the spell isn’t channeled.”

“Channeled?”

“Something that requires constant renewal; once the caster is out of line of sight, the spell loses its power.”

“But didn’t Juliette notice something was going on? She called Monroe.”

“She did. And forgot about it in the twenty minutes it took him to get to her house. Then she called me, and forgot who I was before Hank and Wu got there less than five minutes later. It’s possible that Adalind can control Juliette’s actions, to a certain degree.”

“Like hypnosis?”

“Possibly. But that’s not the only option,” said Renard, and then suddenly asked: “Did you manage to eat something?”

“I... had a pizza.” That was almost true. One slice was definitely pizza.

“Good. There’s going to be dinner, but not until eight.”

Nick didn’t care about dinner. “You said there are other options,” he prompted.

“There are at least four memory-altering curses that fit the description. They all take time to go into full effect, and involve brief moments of clarity before they settle. That could explain Juliette’s calls.”

“Are any of them... permanent?”

“One. Another one causes brain damage if not reversed in time.”

Nick shivered. Renard must have noticed that. “It’s very unlikely Adalind used either of them. They’re both very time-consuming and involve tremendous risks for the caster. From what we know, she didn’t have neither the time nor the resources to prepare for them, and I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t risk her life for something like that.”

“So, we just have to rely on hope that a Hexenbiest with a huge grudge for Juliette would play it safe?”

“We’re not going to rely on anything,” Renard said in a tone one uses to comfort a crying child. “We’re going to observe Juliette’s behavior and the way she acts towards Adalind, and according to those observations, we’re going to figure out which spell was used.”

“I need to know everything you know about these spells,” Nick demanded. That might help him with the panic that’s been settling quickly in his gut, or, at the very least, probably be helpful once they get more information.

“Of course,” Renard promised and started explaining: “The most important thing you have to remember is that every spell that deals with mental changes involves brain chemistry. Spells don’t ignore physiology; they redirect it and use it to their advantage. Which is why if a memory altering spell targets certain specific memories, it doesn’t end up leaving a void in its stead; no brain could tolerate such a void, it would drive one insane. Instead, the mind’s defence mechanism is to replace lost memories with new ones, carefully constructed to fill the gaps without contradicting your perception.”

“Like the way Juliette had a whole story for how she met Monroe without me introducing him.”

“Exactly. Her mind replaced the memory of you with explanations of how the same things happened without you in the picture. It wasn’t the spell doing that, it was her own brain, protecting itself.

“The same thing happens with certain mind-control spells. They don’t force a person to obey the caster’s orders against their will; instead, they alter the person’s perception in such a way that they sincerely believe that obeying those orders is a reasonable thing to do. Spells that work like that are quite dangerous, because the victim doesn’t realize what’s going on, and the spell causes their subconscious to defend their altered perception.”

“How do you know all of that? Is there, like, a Hogwarts for Hexenbiests?”

Renard smiled. “Not that I know of. Most of the knowledge is passed down from parent to child, or, like in Juliette’s case, through apprenticeship. I did some research specifically into memory and behavior alteration during and after Adalind’s curse. As my father says, we always prepare for the last war.”

“Looks like this time that turned out to be a good strategy, at least.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.”

The flight attendant served dinner; they ate, while Renard kept talking about the way spells, curses and potions worked. From memory and mind control spells they somehow moved to love and attraction spells, which turned out to be two distinctly different kinds of magic.

Despite everything that’d been happening, and everything that wasn’t right between the two of them, Nick found that he was very comfortable in Renard’s company. He didn’t remember when they had last talked like that. They’d pulled all-nighters a couple of times over a case, but that wasn’t as private. Renard had been invited to dinner at Monroe and Rosalee’s a couple of times, but that wasn’t as... intimate. It was nice. Despite all the circumstances, it was nice.

Turbulence woke Nick up, probably a couple of hours later. The lights were off; he was lying on the wide seats, a blanket over his shoulders. He didn’t bother getting up to check where Renard was; once they were out of the turbulence, he fell asleep once again.


	3. Chapter 3

Nick hadn’t travelled to Europe all that much before. Each time, waking up in the morning and realizing it was late afternoon outside was quite a bit disorienting. By the time they got to the hotel, it was almost eight PM, and it still felt like morning for him.

The hotel wasn’t as fancy as Nick would have expected of Renard, considering the private jet. It was small and cozy, with worn-out carpets on the floors and watercolor landscapes on the walls. The receptionist’s accent was so heavy that, after a couple of phrases, Renard shot Nick an apologetic look and switched to another language. The receptionist asked to look at their passports, and then gave them some forms to fill, gesturing to the sofa at the lobby.

They grabbed pens and settled there with the forms.

“Are there any languages you don’t speak?” Nick asked, genuinely curious. He’d heard Renard speak German, French, and Spanish before.

“Well, Czech, for one.” Renard smiled. “I never really got to learn most Slavic languages.”

“What was it right now, then?”

“Russian. A lot of people here, especially if they’re over thirty, speak Russian. Some of them just wouldn’t admit it unless you try to speak English first. This country has a complicated history with Russia.”

“Well, good thing you speak both, then,” Nick offered, and looked down at his form.

Right as Nick was finishing writing his first name, last name, country of origin, passport number and cell phone number, they heard the door slam, and then a familiar voice announced, “I’m so suing them out of their pants, just wait and see!”

They both jumped. Renard motioned for Nick to keep quiet.

“I’m sure it was an honest mistake,” Juliette said. “It happens. We’ll find something.”

“I don’t care,” Adalind insisted. “They confirmed the reservation. This is outrageous!”

They both stopped at the counter and looked around. Nick hadn’t expected anything to happen so soon; he wished he’d had his gun. Adalind looked straight at them and gave Nick a short polite smile as their eyes met. The confrontation Nick was bracing himself for just didn’t happen. Both Adalind and Juliette looked as if they’d never met Nick or Renard before.

“Can I help you?” The receptionist asked Adalind.

“Yes,” Adalind said. “Do you have any rooms for tonight?”

“How many?” 

“One room.”

“No, how many you?”

“How many me?” Adalind looked amused.

“There’s two of us,” Juliette said. “We’d like a twin, for five days.”

The receptionist said something that was probably supposed to be in English but wasn’t. Juliette and Adalind didn’t understand her, either, and she switched to another language. Renard paused, gave Nick a questioning look, and at Nick’s shrug — why the hell was he asking Nick, anyway — stood up, picked Nick’s form along with his own, and went over to the counter.

Nick followed him close behind.

Renard said something in Russian, the receptionist answered. Nick didn’t let his eyes off Adalind. Renard proceeded to talk to the receptionist, and Adalind didn’t look like she was bothered by his or Nick’s presence at all.

“She says they have a double, but no twins left,” Renard translated.

“Thank you!” Adalind said with a charming smile, “My Russian is really terrible, and I don’t know a word of Czech!”

“Happy to help,” Renard’s smile mirrored hers.

Adalind turned to Juliette. “I’m sorry, my dear, but I’m not sharing a bed with you. You kick.”

“I do not!” Juliette looked amused and outraged at the same time.

“Last time we slept in the same bed, you did!”

“Last time we slept in the same bed, we were twelve!”

“And I still have the bruises!” Adalind countered, they both laughed, and Juliette didn’t argue again. 

Nick wondered if he could follow them discreetly, once they go to look for another hotel. It would be getting dark soon, and neither Juliette nor Adalind appear to be in the right state of mind. 

“I’m sorry,” the receptionist said in badly accented English. “Gentlemen just took last twin.”

Suddenly, Nick had a crazy idea; he just hoped his boss wouldn’t be mad at him later.

“Wait a minute, did you give us a twin?” he asked.

Renard glanced at him, Nick made an apologetic face, and, lucky for him, the Captain got Nick’s idea. Right away, he put on a worried expression and said something in Russian.

The receptionist was suddenly flustered and apologetic, checking something on her computer, giving the two of them short curious looks and speaking, very fast, in Russian. Sean answered calmly, and then turned to Juliette and Adalind.

“I think they do have a room for you, after all,” he told them. “Someone here booked a twin for us. Again.” He gave Nick a disappointed look. Well, at least, this time Nick could be fairly certain the disappointment wasn’t entirely real.

He played along. “Sorry! I was distracted!”

“Please forgive my boyfriend for nearly stealing your room,” Renard told Juliette and Adalind, and then turned to the receptionist, switching to Russian. At the same time, he moved a little closer to Nick, invading his personal space the way he’d never done before, save for that one time they’d fought. Evidently, Nick hadn’t thought his plan through.

Renard finished the negotiations, and Adalind and Juliette got their own forms to fill. Then he was presented with a key to their own room.

“Thank you so much!” Juliette told them.

“I’m still going to sue those idiots,” Adalind said stubbornly.

“We’d booked a room at another hotel, but they misplaced our reservation,” Juliette explained. “We were worried it’d be hard to find a place, looks like everything’s booked. I dread to imagine where we’d be without you.”

“We didn’t do anything,” Nick objected.

“Other than try to steal your room.” Renard smiled. “Could I offer you both a cup of coffee for an apology?”

Nick had to give it to him, that was smooth.

“We should be the ones buying coffee,” Adalind argued, and Juliette nodded.

“You just about saved our lives!”

Renard gave Nick a short look and put an arm around him.

“I’m Sean Renard, by the way,” he said, stretching out his free hand. “This is my boyfriend, Nick.”

Adalind smiled and shook the offered hand. “I’m Adalind Shade, and this is my friend Juliette.”

“It’s very nice to meet you both.” Nick gave them the best smile he could manage with the Captain hovering so close. This half-embrace was uncomfortable. Or too comfortable, which was another issue entirely.

“Well, I’d suggest we meet down here in an hour, and then decide who owes whom more coffee,” Juliette suggested.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Renard agreed, and they hurried to leave.

***

“Well, at least, the beds are big,” Adalind concluded after a brief inspection. “The rest is pretty terrible. Not even a bathtub!”

“We didn’t come all the way here to soak in a bath,” Juliette said.

Adalind made a face, opened her suitcase and began unpacking. That was probably as much approval as this hotel was ever going to get from her.

“So, are we going for coffee with those two guys?” Juliette decided that changing the topic was a good idea.

“Of course! The taller one is totally hot!”

“Adalind, have you missed the part where they’re gay and together?”

Adalind shrugged. “A girl can look, right? The other one isn’t bad, either. They’re quite a pair.”

Juliette had to admit Adalind was right. Those two were quite good-looking. Especially together.

***

Once they were safely behind a locked door, Renard turned to Nick. Nick was expecting an outrage, or some sort of lecture, but instead, the Captain looked... pleased. “Good thinking,” he said. “I almost let them leave.”

Nick wasn’t entirely convinced his idea was that good.

“And now one of us will have to sleep on the floor.”

“Better than spending all night looking for them all over the city.”

That was probably true, but— Nick looked around. The bed was enormous, but the rest of the room was pretty small. Not as tiny as some motel rooms he’d seen; it even had some furniture other than the bed and two bedside tables, but there was barely any space left beside that. Coming up with a way to settle on the floor would be tricky.

“Nick, it was a good idea,” the Captain assured him. “It got them to stay at this hotel, gave us an excuse to talk to them and at the same time put them at ease; I’m not sure it would have been as easy to get them to meet us again if they hadn’t believed we were together. We can handle the sleeping arrangements. Not letting the two of them out of sight is much more important.”

Which reminded Nick of another problem at hand. “Adalind really didn’t recognize us, did she?”

“Looked like she didn’t. She’s not that good an actress.”

“Are you sure?”

“More or less. She wasn’t surprised or scared when she saw us; she looked genuinely grateful, and she didn’t show any reaction at all to us implying we were in a relationship. The Adalind I know would have reacted at that, at least – slip a commentary, try to taunt us, make a face. Like I said, she’s not really a good actress, never has been. She can fool people who don’t really know her, but I’ve known her all her life. She does not remember who we are.”

“So, this wasn’t her plan. It was Viktor. He played her, too.”

“We cannot be absolutely sure about that, but yes, this makes it more likely. You should call Theresa, make sure she’s aware he’s going to make a move soon. And if you have any contact with your mother—”

“I don’t,” Nick interrupted. There was no way he was telling Renard about the emails.

“Okay then. Call Theresa. Do you mind if I take the first shower?”

“No, Sir,” Nick answered, automatically, already looking for Trubel’s number.

Renard turned to look at him.

“Nick. If we want Adalind to believe we’re a couple, you’re going to have to use my first name. It’s ‘Sean’, in case you forgot.”

Right.

“Okay. Sean,” he tried. It didn’t feel right. “Go ahead, take the shower, I’ll call Trubel.”

Renard nodded, satisfied, and closed the bathroom door behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

They’d found a small coffee shop around the corner; it wasn’t exactly empty, but, unlike the nearest Starbucks, it wasn’t completely crowded; they’d even managed to get a table by the window.

Turned out, Nick and Sean were from Portland, too. They said they worked for the police, but didn’t look too comfortable talking about it, so Juliette didn’t insist. She had to kick Adalind under the table to ensure she wouldn’t insist, either – Adalind had a way of embarrassing them both with nosy questions sometimes. However, this time it was Juliette’s turn to cause embarrassment.

There was no sugar on their table, and Nick grabbed a sugar bowl from the next one and passed it to Juliette, casually, like he’d done it multiple times before. Juliette accepted the bowl and, just as casually pecked him on the lips.

It felt so natural, like they’d done it hundreds of times before. She didn’t even notice she’d done something wrong until she heard Adalind gasp. That was when it hit her. “Oh my god, I am so sorry! I have no idea what got into me,” she gasped. 

Kissing a stranger in front of his boyfriend. Now, that was something she’d definitely never done before in her life.

Nick looked stunned and confused, but hurried to reassure her. “It’s okay, no harm done. It’s not like you punched me.”

She turned to Sean, thinking she should apologize to him, too; she’d just kissed his boyfriend, after all.

Renard was smiling. Not a polite reassuring smile like Nick’s, but a real, although small, happy smile. That was weird. And maybe a little creepy.

“See, you’re definitely not the only one whose timing for kissing people is a little off,” he told Nick.

Nick shot him a confused look.

“Don’t tell me you forgot our first kiss.”

Nick shrugged, like he actually did forget, but it didn’t look like it phased Renard.

“We were on a case, I was hurt. Nick kissed me right there in the woods where he found me. Good thing our colleagues were five minutes behind.”

“C’mon, give me a break, I hadn’t slept for three days looking for you!” So, Nick did remember, after all.

They both laughed, and Sean turned to Juliette.

“When did you last sleep?” He asked. “You said you just got here from Portland, did you get any sleep on the plane?”

He was right, she hadn’t; she’d been chatting with Adalind most of the flight and reading a book while Adalind was napping. She told them as much.

“It was a long flight,” Nick said. “No wonder you’re so disoriented.”

“That’s no excuse for molesting you! In front of your boyfriend!”

Nick shrugged. “I’ve had worse,” he said, and Juliette could swear he gave Adalind a dirty look, although that made no sense whatsoever.

“You didn’t molest anyone, Juliette,” Sean told her in a calming voice. “You’re tired and sleep deprived. And please, don’t beat yourself on my account. Even if it hadn’t been an accident, I wouldn’t mind.”

Juliette’s confusion must have been showing, because, after a short pause, Sean elaborated. “We’re in an open relationship. Nick can kiss whomever he chooses; it’s perfectly okay with me.”

That shouldn’t have mattered, but still put Juliette’s mind a little bit at ease. 

“You know what, let’s just all forget this incident?” Adalind offered. “You’re freaking out over nothing.”

“It’s not ‘nothing’! I’m—“

“If you’re really so upset about this, you can pay for our coffee,” Nick offered.

“Next time,” Sean corrected. “You’re not getting out of paying for this one so easily.”

Nick made a show of pretending to be upset. “Okay.” He turned to Juliette. “You pay for coffee next time, and we’ll all forget about it by then. Deal?”

Juliette nodded, blushing. She had no idea why she was so overjoyed there was going to be a next time.

***

“Open relationship? Really?” Nick asked once they got back to their room.

“I had to say something. Did you see how lost she looked?”

That was true, Juliette had looked lost once she’d realized what she’d done; lost, confused and perhaps a little terrified. Nick would have done anything to wipe that look off her face.

“It’s actually a very good sign, that she did it,” Renard said. “Kissed you, I mean.”

“Is it?”

“Yes. Some part of her remembers you, and when her guard is down she acts on it. It probably means whatever was done to her isn’t permanent.”

That... was good to hear.

“I talked to my mother while you were showering; she pretty much confirmed what I told you before; there are dozens of spells that could have this effect. Some of them affect the caster, too; and some of them can affect multiple people at the same time, even if Adalind wasn’t the caster. We can’t say anything for sure until we know more, but I’m positive what we just learned is a very good sign. It actually means this spell can dissolve over time.”

“You mean, they might remember on their own?”

“It’s possible. Now that we know part of her remembers you, I’d say it’s rather probable.”

“Good. That’s good. What do we do now?”

“Right now? Sleep. We’re going to need to keep a close eye on them, and we don’t have a surveillance team or backup. That means we both need to be well-rested.”

Nick briefly considered pointing out that he’d just had a full night’s sleep on the plane, but decided against it. He was, in fact, a little sleepy.

“I’ll take the floor,” Renard said in the meantime. “You haven’t been sleeping well for weeks, you need rest.”

“It was my stupid idea, you don’t need to suffer for it,” Nick protested.

“The idea wasn’t stupid, and I’ve definitely slept in worse places.”

Nick didn’t want to imagine the ‘worse places’ Renard was referring to; the only space on the floor where an adult man could fit was barely large enough for Nick, and definitely too small for the Captain. The bed, however…

“You know what?” He said before he could change his mind. “I’m pretty sure we could fit half of the precinct in this bed if we tried. Why don’t we share it? It’s not like—“ Not like they were horny teenagers or anything. Nick actually managed to shut up before saying it out loud.

“Are you sure?” Renard asked. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Sleeping on the floor is much more uncomfortable.”

The Captain looked doubtful.

“I promise I don’t kick,” Nick offered, remembering Adalind’s remark.

That made Renard smile, just a little. “Okay,” he said, sitting down on the left side of the bed. “I suppose it is big enough.”

***

A couple of hours later Nick woke up from his phone ringing. It was the middle of the night, and he had a vague memory of a very nice dream. He couldn’t quite remember what the dream was about, only that Sean was there. He rubbed his eyes and cleared his voice.

“Nick, it’s me,” Turbel said as soon as he answered the phone. “You were right, it was Viktor.”

What was Viktor? Obviously, Nick wasn’t awake enough.

“What happened?” He asked.

“Viktor found your mom and Diana. Apparently, he’d known where they were for a while – did you know they didn’t even leave Portland?”

Nick didn’t, he’d been sure his mother was supposed to take Diana as far away as possible.

“They didn’t. Your mother said it was safer that way; I have no idea why. Anyway, Viktor tracked them down more than a week ago, and needed you and Adalind out of the way to get to them.”

“Me and Adalind?” Not Juliette.

“Yeah. He wanted to take Diana out of the country before Adalind got the chance to see her. You have no idea what this kid is capable of. I’m pretty sure Viktor knew that if Adalind got to her first, no one else ever would have a chance.”

“What happened?” Nick asked again.

“His people attacked your mom’s house. They knocked her out, thought they’d killed her, and took Diana with them.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yes. Both of them. Your mom called me as soon as they left; she couldn’t catch up with them but got the number plate. Hank ran it through the system, found the owner— anyway. As soon as your mom and I got there, Diana sort of rescued herself. Nick, you should have seen it! She threw one of the goons out of the window, disarmed the others and knocked Viktor out, all on her own! A one-year-old!”

Nick glanced at Renard and saw that was awake and was listening.

“Truble, I’m putting you on speaker, tell the Captain what happened,” he said.

“Yeah, evening Captain, I, uh...”

“Hello Theresa. Please tell me what happened.”

“Short version. Victor kidnapped Diana from Nick’s mother’s house, we found where he was holding her, and she rescued herself. Your kid is, like, uber-powerful. She disarmed three men, threw one of them out of the window, and knocked Viktor unconscious before either of us even tried anything!”

Nick looked at Renard. A proud half-smile showed on the man’s face and quickly disappeared.

“Is she okay now?” He asked.

“She’s fine, we’re all fine. Nick’s mom took off with her right away; she said it would take Viktor longer this time to track them.”

“Good.”

“Are you sure you’re okay, Trubel?” Nick asked.

“We’re all fine, Nick. Relax. We’ve got it. Hank arrested most of Viktor’s people; Viktor himself is in the hospital, unconscious with a concussion and a few broken ribs. It will take him some time to get himself together.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“And how are you, guys? Is Juliette any better?”

“Not really,” Nick replied with a sigh. “We’re still unsure what happened to her. We’re going to follow them tomorrow to see if we can find out anything.”

“Tomorrow? Or wait, what time is it there now?”

Nick looked at his watch. “It’s half past two,” he said.

“Oh. Sorry I woke you up.”

“It’s fine, your news is important.”

“Well, anyway, you should go back to sleep. We’ve got it, you just bring Juliette home safe.”

“Keep us posted,” Renard asked her.

“Sure. I’ll call you if anything happens.”

“And text us daily if nothing does,” Nick insisted.

“Okay, okaay. We’re fine though. Night, Nick, Captain.”

She hung up.

“So, it was, in fact, Viktor’s plan, not Adalind’s.”

Nick turned to Renard and only then realized neither of them had even considered getting out of the bed for this discussion; in fact, Renard had moved a little closer to be able to talk to Trubel. They were in the same bed. Close enough to touch. Somehow, that thought made Nick’s breath catch.

Luckily, Renard didn’t notice. “That probably means he was the one who cast the spell on Adalind,” he said. “But even if Viktor were couscous—“

“Yeah, I’m not sure he’d be willing to volunteer the information.”

Renard nodded and rolled away, to his side of the bed.

“There’s still nothing we can do right now, Nick. Go back to sleep. In the morning you’re going to need to be focused.”

Nick nodded and turned off his bedside lamp.

“Good night, sir,” he said.

“It’s ‘Sean’, Nick. You really don’t want to slip and call me ‘sir’ in front of Juliette and Adalind.”

Right.

“Night, Sean,” Nick said, once again ignoring all the unexpected feelings it evoked. Sean. In his bed. He’d never entertained that idea before; it would have been ridiculously unattainable. Now that the notion was there, he had to come up with a way of ignoring it.

He figured he wouldn’t get much sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last full chapters so far, everything beyond it needs some work. I have hopes, though; I've written a couple thousand words for it over the past week, which is way more than I did in a few years before that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you know, I've managed to complete another chapter. The next one is still in the works, maybe about 60% complete.

“At least their breakfasts are okay,” Adalind commented, destroying her waffles with scary determination. “This place is abysmal. Are you sure you don’t want to look for another place to stay?”

Juliette smiled. ‘Okay’ for a breakfast with six different vegan options was a bit of an understatement. “What if the other place doesn’t even have okay breakfasts?” She asked, teasing.

“Oh yes, it’s all about the breakfast, I’m sure,” Adalind teased back. 

“You should try these banana pancakes,” Juliette suggested, “before you decide anything.”

“Thanks but no thanks.” Adalind made a face. “Nothing you find delicious is ever edible. And anyway, I wasn’t serious. This place is pretty awful, but I’d rather spend the day showing you the city than going through suspicious but still overbooked establishments. I booked us a walking tour for a start.” 

Juliette nodded and finished her pancake. “How much do I owe you for the tour?”

“You’re joking, right? We agreed it was my treat.”

“We agreed to no such thing,” Juliette insisted. “You’ve already paid for the plane tickets.”

Adalind looked a little confused for a fraction of second. “And that’s when we decided the trip’s on me,” she said. It sounded more like a question.

“I don’t remember using these exact words,” Juliette said. 

“Doesn’t matter,” Adalind said. “You can pay me back in vet visits. When I get a pet. If I get a pet.”

Juliette was pretty sure Adalind used to have a cat. A big gray one, with a lot of fur that, for some reason, never ended up on any of Adalind’s expensive suits; Adalind joked there was blood magic involved. Juliette didn’t remember what happened to the cat. Shouldn’t she know these things about her best friend? 

“Juliette? Are you okay?” Adalind’s voice sounded far away. 

“Huh?” Juliette blinked. Adalind’s worried, but un-Woged face shouldn’t look unnerving, should it?

“You spaced out there for a bit.”

Did she? “Did I?”

“Jetlag?”

“I guess.”

“I know just the thing for that. Finish your coffee, we’re going for the tour, and then having another long walk after lunch. By dinner you’ll be tired enough for a good night’s sleep!”

Juliette was already tired enough for a good night’s sleep, but she decided not to mention that.

***

Nick woke up warm, comfortable, but disoriented. It took him a minute to remember where he was and why, and even more than that to remember why he isn’t supposed to feel as nice as he did just because the Captain - the Captain! - was in bed next to him. 

He looked at Renard just in time to see a series of emotions on the man’s usually not exactly expressive face. If he hadn’t known any better he’d probably think Renard was for a second just as confused and embarrassed as Nick had been a minute ago, but the second passed and the Captain was once again calm and composed as he was any other day.

“Morning,” Renard said as casually as if it was just a normal morning at the precinct. How can someone look so business-like half-naked and in bed?

“Morning, s-” Nick swallowed the reflective ‘sir’, but using the Captain’s given name felt way too intimate for the circumstances. “What’s the plan?” He said instead, going for the same ‘normal morning at the precinct’ air; he was sure he didn’t pull it off half as well as Renard..

“Your call,” Renard said, getting up. “We agreed it’s your operation.”

Nick had to admit Renard had never been in the business of making Nick’s life easy.

“We’ll play it by ear then,” he suggested, for the lack of a better plan. 

“It’s worked all right so far,” Renard agreed and went to the bathroom without waiting for Nick to reply.

Nick watched him retreat, barefoot and wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers, and thought there was nothing ‘all right’ in the way it’s been so far.

***

“Nick,” Renard asked as Nick emerged from the bathroom fully dressed and slightly more collected, “are you particularly hungry at the moment?” 

He was standing by the window, holding the curtains slightly open with the back of one hand. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt he didn’t look any less regal than he did in his full dress uniform or a formal suit, but he did look a little more- approachable, maybe. Nick reminded himself that was an illusion.

“I’m not starving, no,” he replied. 

“Good. Get your phone, Juliette and Adalind just left.”

Nick grabbed his phone and his wallet from his bedside table and made a beeline for the door.

When they came rushing out of the hotel, Juliette was nowhere in sight. “This way,” Renard said. “There’s nothing of importance to the right; they must have turned left.”

He was right, of course: after a minute or two of carefully not running in the direction Renard had chosen (the not running part worked for Renard much better than it did for Nick, and yet, somehow they were both moving at the same speed) they saw Juliette and Adalind across the street.

“Are we just following them?” Nick asked.

“Do you have a better idea?”

“I’m open to suggestions.”

“Until we find out more, I don’t see what else we can do.”

“Okay then. What are we looking for?”

“Any signs of confusion in either of them, for once. Those would mean the spell isn’t permanent, at least for now. Signs of ill intent from Adalind, in case I read her wrong. Unprovoked violence from either of them, or any signs of atypical behavior would help distinguish between the spells. Anything that would show that the real Juliette and Adalind are still in there would be a good sign. Basically, we need to know how deep this goes and whether or not it’s progressed further since last night.

“Got it,” Nick said. He was a little surprised with himself: much as he respected Renard, it was hardly like him to trust him entirely, and with Juliette’s life, of all things. But the Captain was a lot more competent and definitely on his side in this, so he supposed it was okay for now.

***

“We’re waiting for another group to leave the building, we wouldn’t want it to be overcrowded,” the guide said, a couple of hours into the tour. “It will be about fifteen minutes; you’re welcome to look around; the lavatory is just around the corner, and that bakery over there has a nice selection of great pastry. Please don’t go too far, though; we’ll continue as soon as we’re able.” 

“I don’t want pastry, I want coffee,” Adalind said to Juliette. “Come, I can see a coffee shop.” 

Their coffee took less than two minutes to be ready; the shortest time Juliette had ever waited for a cup of coffee.

“At least this guide speaks decent English,” Adalind said once they got their cups. 

Juliette decided to keep her annoyed ‘his English is much better than yours’ to herself, and replied, “I really like the tour.” It was perfectly paced (even the seemingly unplanned break had perfect timing) and very exciting; Juliette couldn’t remember last time she had so much fun sightseeing. 

The guide somehow managed to offer a captivating amalgam of Wesen and Kehrseite history, city legends, fairy tales and rumors, and at the same time managed to leave a clear understanding which is which while showing the most beautiful and enchanting parts of the city.

“It’s better than I expected,” Adalind agreed. “Though I didn’t expect much, to be honest.”

“It’s amazing,” Juliette insisted, and tried her coffee. “Ow!”

“What?”

“Burned my tongue a bit,” Juliette smiled. “Happens to me all the time.”

“Uh-uh,” Adalind agreed. She sensibly didn’t try to taste her coffee and blew on it instead. “Smells okay, though.”

“It’s good,” Juliette said. “Just hot.”

“Want a trdlo?” Adalind asked. “Look, there’s a trdly booth. I can smell it from here.”

“What’s a trdlo?”

“A kind of street food.”

“Is there meat in it?” Juliette asked carefully. You could never be too sure with the food Adalind was suggesting.

“Not usually. It’s sort of like sweet bread with cinnamon.”

Juliette glanced at their guide. The group hadn’t begun gathering around him yet, and the other group hadn’t left yet. “I guess we have a bit of time to pick up a trdlo.”

A trdlo turned out to be something like a bun with a hole in it. It turned out to be less sweet than Juliette expected from the way it smelled, but still very nice.

“Ugh,” Adalind said, trying it. “It’s awful.”

“Is it?” Juliette thought it was actually rather good.

“It’s bloody gross. This is not the way a trdlo should taste.”

“What? Is it spoiled?”

“Well, no, it’s fine and fresh, but just - trust me on this, it’s not good. For a trdlo.”

“Is it okay for edible food?” Juliette asked.

“Suit yourself.” Adalind said and tossed her own into a trash can. 

The coffee, once it got a little colder, was amazing, and cinnamon trdlo with fresh almond milk coffee was, in fact, delicious. 

***

So far, both Nick and Renard had to agree that neither Juliette nor Adalind acted out of character as much as they both could tell. Juliette seemed to be asking the guide a lot of questions that made the man give her warm fatherly smiles, while Adalind occasionally looked annoyed and commented on something, quietly. 

Juliette picked up a cup of coffee, almond milk and no sugar- exactly the way she usually takes it. Adalind opted for black coffee, no sugar. “She does that when she’s finding it hard to concentrate,” Renard commented. “Or when she’s trying to impress someone; she used to do that in front of me when she was younger. I could see that she hated the coffee, but I guess she thought it made her look cool.”

“How long, exactly, have you known her?” Nick asked. 

“I knew her mother before she was born,” Renard admitted.

“Oh.” That was… more than a little unsettling. “Is it typical for your kind to- to have children with people you knew when they were kids?”

“Occasionally. But it’s not like I had a choice.”

“What?”

“I never found her attractive,” Renard said.

Nick’s mind was rushing a mile an hour. Adalind, on the other side of the street, was buying something in a street booth. He thought of his own experience of sleeping with Adalind. And his partner’s.

“Did she disguise herself as someone else, too? Or poison your cookies?”

“Blackmailed me, basically.”

“Oh. What did she have on you?” In for a penny.

“Doesn’t matter now,” Renard said. “We both got what we wanted, at the time. And I can’t say Diana is an unwelcome outcome.”

There was that.

Nick caught himself having mixed feelings about the revelation. On one hand, this was yet another evidence of Adalind being a terrible person, capable of hurting everyone around her, including the seemingly invincible Captain. On the other hand, he was, inexcusably, relieved that Renard did not, in fact, have a relationship with Adalind. He didn’t care to explore all the reasons why he felt that way, so he just stood there and watched Adalind and Juliette eat some unfamiliar street food; Adalind seemed to hate it and Juliette didn’t. The food looked delicious.

“We can make a stop here,” Sean said in the meantime, changing the topic. “They’re going to go inside and then back out again, there’s not much room inside and only one exit. We can wait here.”

“Oh. Does that mean we have enough time to get coffee, too?” Nick hadn’t realized how much he needed caffeine until he saw Juliette and Adalind get coffee.

“Probably. Good idea, a coffee won’t hurt.”

Nick looked around. There was a short line in the nearest coffee shop. What if they missed the group leaving? Probably not really a good idea.

“Stay here,” Sean said. “I’ll be right back. Call if something happens.”

“Thank you.”

He chose a vantage point with a good view of the entrance where Juliette and Adalind’s group had just disappeared. 

The building was magnificent, he thought; they should go in there sometime this week, or maybe take an actual tour; probably with a Wessen guide, too. Although Nick already knew there was an entire Wessen culture hidden from non-Wessen eye, it still surprised him sometimes to discover parts of it. There were Wessen guides, entire agencies that offered tours for Wessen, with pieces of legends and history you wouldn’t find in history books. It was fascinating. 

Not for the first time in his life, Nick wondered how many Wessen there actually are. His ancestors, evidently, believed that Wessen were some sort of abnormality, rare and to be destroyed - but his experience showed that once you see a part of the community, you eventually discover that it is much bigger than it would seem on the surface. Is there any sort of statistics? Probably not.

He watched the people passing by. How many of them were actually Wessen? That guy with a badly-trimmed beard could be a Blutbad, and there’s nothing to say that that little girl wasn’t born a Geier or a Kitsune; or they could both be just Kehrseites, for all Nick knew. Did that even matter, unless someone was breaking a law?

Despite the crowd, the street was beautiful. Each building seemed to have a history of its own, probably a very, very long one. The entire city was a work of art, deep and breathtaking; Nick was anxious to get to know more of it. He was glad he and Sean managed to get out to- 

“Any news?” Sean asked. He was back with two cups of coffee and two paper bags that probably had food in them.

“Huh?”

“Are they still in there?”

Who still in where?

Oh. Juliette. Adalind. Stakeout. What the hell just happened? He probably needed that coffee more than he’d thought.

“Nick? Are they still in there?” Renard asked again.

Nick collected himself. “Yeah. No one’s come out yet.”

“Are you okay, Nick?

“I’m fine,” he lied. “Really need the coffee, though.”

“Okay,” Renard said, looking doubtful. “Here. I wasn’t sure I remembered how you took it.” 

Nick tried the coffee. It was exactly how he took it. “It’s perfect, thank you.”

“Take this, too,” Sean demanded. “We did skip breakfast.”

Nick wasn’t very hungry, but the cheese bagel in the bag smelled divine. He barely managed to utter a ‘thank you’ before devouring it.

“I’m glad you like it,” Sean said; his voice was warmer than Nick had ever heard before. He ate his own bagel with much more dignity, but, Nick noticed, still finished it not a second later. Nick smiled at him and his breath caught at the smile he got in return.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is pretty heavy on Nick/Renard, but also features a little bit of Nick/Juliette, hints of Renard/Juliette, and Nick/Renard/Juliette. 
> 
> Interactions involving dubious consent happen because the people involved are under the influence of a false memory spell, and believe they’re in a relationship when they actually aren’t. 
> 
> The death of a child is referred to, but it’s a part of fake memory and doesn’t actually happen.
> 
> I am aware that there’s no direct flight from Portland to Prague, but I chose to ignore that, as well as some other facts that didn’t fit the story. I’m sorry. Or not.
> 
> This is unbetaed, so please, feel free to point out any mistakes you find.


End file.
